Dick Contino

2025-10-24T01:31:49Z

66.66.133.50: /* Personal life */

{{Short description|American accordionist, singer, and actor (1930–2017)}}
{{use mdy dates|date=November 2020}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| image = Dick Contino.jpg
| image_size =
| name =
| caption = Contino, 1965
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1930|1|17}}
| birth_place = [[Fresno, California]], U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|2017|4|19|1930|1|17}}
| death_place = Fresno, California, U.S.
| instrument = {{hlist|Accordion|vocals}}
| genre =
| occupation = {{hlist|Musician|singer|actor}}
}}

'''Richard Joseph''' "'''Dick'''" '''Contino''' (January 17, 1930 – April 19, 2017) was an American [[accordion]]ist and singer.

==Early life==
Contino was born in [[Fresno, California]]. He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Peter Contino, and he attended [[Fresno High School]].<ref name=nytimes>{{cite news|last= Sandomir |first= Richard |title= Dick Contino, Accordion Heartthrob, Dies at 87
|url= https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/30/arts/music/obituary-dick-contino-accordion-heartthrob.html |access-date= January 3, 2018|newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date= April 30, 2017}}</ref><ref name=fbr010548/> He studied accordion primarily with [[San Francisco]]-based Angelo Cognazzo, and occasionally with [[Los Angeles]]-based [[Guido Deiro]]. At the age of about 6 or 7 years old he exhibited great virtuosity on the instrument.

Although he graduated from Fresno High School in 1947 and enrolled at [[Fresno State College]], he was unable to concentrate on his studies. Contino explained, "I enjoyed college, but while attending classes I kept thinking that if I was going to be a success, it would be my music that would take me there."<ref>Dick Contino, cited by Bove, Bob and Angellotti, Lou (1994) ''Accordion Man: The Legendary Dick Contino''. Father and Son Publishing, Inc., Tallahassee; {{ISBN|0942407296}}</ref> He also played piano, clarinet, and saxophone.<ref name="fbr121547" />

==Early career==
Contino got his big break on December 7, 1947, at age 17, when he played "[[Lady of Spain (song)|Lady of Spain]]" (his signature piece) and won first place in the [[Horace Heidt]]/[[Philip Morris USA|Philip Morris]] talent contest in Fresno, which was broadcast on national radio.<ref>{{cite news|title=Fresno Accordionist Wins $250 Prize On Radio Talent Program|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17795281/dick_contino/|work=The Fresno Bee The Republican|date=December 8, 1947|location=California, Fresno|page=15|via = [[Newspapers.com]]|access-date = February 26, 2018}} {{Open access}}</ref> Contino also won first place in subsequent competitions in Los Angeles,<ref name="fbr121547">{{cite news|title=Fresno Youth Is Victor In Second Talent Contest|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17795281/dick_contino/|work=The Fresno Bee The Republican|date=December 15, 1947|location=California, Fresno|page=13|via = [[Newspapers.com]]|access-date = February 26, 2018}} {{Open access}}</ref> [[Omaha, Nebraska|Omaha]],<ref name="fbr010548">{{cite news|title=Fresno Youth Is Victor Again In Talent Contest|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17795794/dick_contino/|work=The Fresno Bee The Republican|date=January 5, 1948|location=California, Fresno|page=11|via = [[Newspapers.com]]|access-date = February 26, 2018}} {{Open access}}</ref> [[Des Moines, Iowa|Des Moines]],<ref>{{cite news|title=Young Accordion Player Again Is Radio Test Victor|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17796051/dick_contino/|work=The Fresno Bee The Republican|date=January 12, 1948|location=California, Fresno|page=9|via = [[Newspapers.com]]|access-date = February 26, 2018}} {{Open access}}</ref> [[Youngstown, Ohio|Youngstown]],<ref>{{cite news|title=Contino Does It Again; Wins 8th Amateur Contest|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17796342/dick_contino/|work=The Fresno Bee The Republican|date=January 26, 1948|location=California, Fresno|page=11|via = [[Newspapers.com]]|access-date = February 26, 2018}} {{Open access}}</ref> [[Cleveland]],<ref>{{cite news|title=Fresno Accordion Player Again Is Contest Winner|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17796458/dick_contino/|work=The Fresno Bee The Republican|date=February 2, 1948|location=California, Fresno|page=13|via = [[Newspapers.com]]|access-date = February 26, 2018}} {{Open access}}</ref> [[Pittsburgh]], [[Harrisburg, Pennsylvania|Harrisburg]], and [[New York City]]. He won first place in the final round on December 12, 1948, in [[Washington, D.C.]] In 1949 he had a hit album,''Dick Contino'', which reached No. 3 on the [[Billboard Top LPs]].<ref name="Whitburn">{{cite book | last = Whitburn | first = Joel | title = Top LPs, 1955–1996 | year = 1996 | publisher = Record Research | page = 36 | url = https://archive.org/details/joelwhitburnstoplp00whit/page/52/mode/2up | access-date = 2025-07-10}}</ref>

Contino made many recordings from the latter 1940s to the early 1960s, particularly for [[Mercury Records]] and [[Dot Records]]. [[Eddie Fisher]] had much better success with Contino's "Lady of Spain" in 1952. Contino's song "Yours" was his first hit single. The song reached #27 on the U.S. pop charts in 1954. His second and only other hit single was "Pledge My Love." It reached #42 on the U.S. pop charts in 1957.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Whitburn |first=Joel |url=https://archive.org/details/joelwhitburnstop00whitbur/page/244/mode/2up |title=Joel Whitburn's top pop singles 1955-2002 |date=2002 |publisher=Record Research |isbn=0898201551 |location=Menomonee Falls, Wisc. |pages=150}}</ref>

Contino toured with the Horace Heidt Orchestra and was billed as the "world's greatest accordion player." He appeared on ''[[The Ed Sullivan Show]]'' a record 48 times.{{Citation needed|date=February 2018}}

==Military service==
Contino's career was interrupted when he was [[conscription|drafted]] during the [[Korean War]]. He fled from pre-induction barracks at [[Fort Ord]] out of extreme, unpublicized phobias and neuroses.<ref>"Contino Offers to Enlist if Allowed to Get Well". ''Toledo Blade''. April 23, 1951. p. 3.</ref> In 1951, he pled guilty to evasion and was sentenced to serve six months at [[McNeil Island Corrections Center]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Contino's Parole Application Denied|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17788937/dick_contino/|work=The Kokomo Tribune|agency=Associated Press|date=November 9, 1951|location=Indiana, Kokomo|page=6|via = [[Newspapers.com]]|access-date = February 26, 2018}} {{Open access}}</ref>

He was inducted into the army in 1952, having served four and a half months of his sentence.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/article/albany-democrat-herald-musician-contino/128380472/ "Musician Contino Begins Army Hitch"], ''Albany Democrat-Herald'', Thursday, May 08, 1952</ref> He was honorably discharged with the rank of staff sergeant. Although he received a [[presidential pardon]], the scandal dealt Contino's career a serious blow. He continued to perform, and acted in a few movies in the 1950s and 1960s.{{citation needed|date=October 2014}}

==Later career==
{{Unsourced|section|date=September 2022}}
Contino's acting became known to a new generation in 1991, when ''[[Daddy-O (film)|Daddy-O]]'', a low-budget 1958 movie in which he starred as a faddishly-dressed beat rebel and singer, was shown on a third-season episode of ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000]]''. The show also riffed the 1959 film ''[[Girls Town (1959 film)|Girls Town]]'', in which Contino appeared with other musical performers, such as [[Paul Anka]] and [[The Platters]].

He continued to perform regularly throughout the United States. His repertoire was eclectic, ranging from Italian songs such as "[[Torna a Surriento|Come Back to Sorrento]]" and "[[Arrivederci Roma]]" to standards like "[[Lady of Spain (song)|Lady of Spain]]" and "[[Swinging on a Star]]".

==Personal life==
Contino was married to [[Leigh Snowden]] for 26 years. They had three children together. Then married to Tonia Cannavino for 23 years. <ref name="scs">{{cite news|title=Dick Contino Finds He Still Fights The Battle Of His Past|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17794671/dick_contino/|work=Santa Cruz Sentinel|agency=Associated Press|date=September 10, 1964|location=California, Santa Cruz|page=5|via = [[Newspapers.com]]|access-date = February 26, 2018}} {{Open access}}</ref> They lived in Las Vegas.

==Novella and other fictional works==
{{Unsourced|section|date=September 2022}}
[[James Ellroy]] wrote a [[novella]], ''[[Hollywood Nocturnes|Dick Contino's Blues]]'', which is a mini-memoir and crime story based on Contino's experiences as a struggling artist after the war. It is included in the 1994 Ellroy short story collection ''[[Hollywood Nocturnes]]''. A version appeared in issue number 46 of [[Granta]] magazine (Winter 1994) along with several photographs of Contino and the author. Ellroy also penned a short story entitled ''Hollywood Shakedown'', which appeared in his collected work [[Crime Wave (book)|''Crime Wave'']] and featured Contino as the central character.

The story was entirely fictitious, as it features numerous incidents of violence and murder which Contino had never been linked with or accused of in reality.

He appeared briefly in Ellroy's ''[[American Tabloid]]'', the first book of his [[Underworld USA Trilogy]], performing at a mafia-financed Cuban exile military training camp ("Contino played 'Lady Of Spain' six thousand times.").

In 2012, a biography of Contino's life, ''The Beauty of Imperfection'', was published.

==Death==
Contino died on April 19, 2017, in Fresno, at the age of 87.<ref name=TheFresnoBee>{{cite news|last= Tehee |first= Joshua |title= Famed accordionist, Fresno native, Dick Contino has died | url=http://www.fresnobee.com/entertainment/music-news-reviews/joshua-tehee/article146036429.html|access-date= April 24, 2017|newspaper=[[The Fresno Bee]] |date= April 21, 2017}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150213081150/http://www.dickcontino.com/ |date=February 13, 2015 |title=Official website }}
*[https://www.namm.org/library/oral-history/dick-contino Dick Contino Interview] at [[NAMM Oral History Program|NAMM Oral History Collection]] (2006)
*{{IMDb name|id=0176438|name=Dick Contino}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Contino, Dick}}
[[Category:1930 births]]
[[Category:2017 deaths]]
[[Category:American accordionists]]
[[Category:RCA Victor artists]]
[[Category:Musicians from Fresno, California]]
[[Category:Actors from the Las Vegas Valley]]
[[Category:Musicians from the Las Vegas Valley]]

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Dick Contino